Packed in to 83 for our yearly fall trip. This is our third year in a row and I guess the third time is lucky. We were the only fishermen in Bone Valley the entire time (one hiker for one night) so we had our pick of water. Fished a little bit of Bone Valley the first evening and caught about 10 fish. Kept two, which leads me to a question. Both rainbows (8-9 inches) had stomachs full of what appeared to be little rocks. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Why does this happen or am I seeing things? I didn't make it too far up BV before nightfall, but I can see why people enjoy it so much. If I can pull myself away from Hazel for a whole day it would be fun to explore it all day. 2nd day we hiked up high and I was over 20 fish by lunch time and at some point lost count. Nothing big although my partner caught a couple of browns in the 13 inch range. I will see if I can get his pictures to post. I used the green, pink or white weenie almost exclusively this day (Friday) and it did not disappoint. Saturday we woke up to sunny skies and warmer temps. Fishing was going along like it had been consistent, but nothing too big, when it happened. I lost my last BHGW. For no particular reason I tied on an ornange stimulator with a bead head prince dropper. Not long after I was into the biggest rainbow I have hooked in the park. Sadly, it got downstream from me wrapped around a rock and "ping", gone. Since it swam right past me twice I would guess it was around 14 inches. After I calmed down and ate lunch I tied another BHP on and worked my way up the same run. At the top of the run I hooked another fish that was at least as big, that jumped twice, wrapped me around another rock and was gone. Leaving me wondering why I brought the 3 weight. Not too long after that I finally connected on the biggest smokies trout of my life. After 10 minutes of light pressure and chasing the fish up and down the stream I netted a beautiful 17 inch brown, which made the last two lost fish worth it. I took as many pictures as I could and will try to post them from home, but I clearly need more practice in the picture taking department. That was the highlight of the day, but I lost 3 more good fish that all broke me off (5X). All took the BHP nymph except one took the orange stimulator. I clearly need more practice, :smile: but will have to wait til spring. WIll try to post pictures if I can figure out how when I get home.

Grannyknot

10-03-2011, 02:45 PM

awesome. can't wait to see your pictures.

ifish4wildtrout

10-03-2011, 02:48 PM

Awesome. I know how you feel on the lost rainbows, I had the exact same thing happen at Palmer last year, except I did not follow up by landing a 17 inch brown.

NDuncan

10-03-2011, 02:52 PM

Kept two, which leads me to a question. Both rainbows (8-9 inches) had stomachs full of what appeared to be little rocks. Has anyone else ever experienced this?

Sounds like they have been stuffing themselves on some caddis larvae?

Yeah I have seen the same thing, multiple times...like tiny pieces of gravel?

David Knapp

10-03-2011, 09:09 PM

Yep, they have probably been eating cased caddis larva...There are some interesting patterns out there to imitate this insect but I haven't tried any myself...

lexfly

10-03-2011, 09:53 PM

I can't seem to post the pics. I have saved them to an album on LRO, but they are not on the internet anywhere else (e.g., facebook). When I follow the instructions I just get a red x with a box around it. Any advice?

Rob Johnson

10-04-2011, 12:36 AM

Were you upstream or downstream from 83 on Hazel when you found those nice fish? I don"t get there often anymore, and it has been several moons since I have fished there this time of year. Did you make it up to the ranger shed above BV campsite? Anyone fish up at the cabin on Bone? Hope you figure it out and those pics posted. I would love to see them. ROB

lexfly

10-04-2011, 08:32 PM

Were you upstream or downstream from 83 on Hazel when you found those nice fish? I don"t get there often anymore, and it has been several moons since I have fished there this time of year. Did you make it up to the ranger shed above BV campsite? Anyone fish up at the cabin on Bone? Hope you figure it out and those pics posted. I would love to see them. ROB

I caught my good fish from Sugar Fork up past BV campsite. My partner caught his browns above the Cold Spring trail and a 14 inch rainbow (he says) just up from the lake while we were waiting for the ferry. I forgot to mention that on the hike in we could easily see four to six BIG fish in the tail of Brown's pool and a guy showed us a 21 inch brown he caught in the lake at the outlet of Hazel while we were waiting to leave. Didn't make it to the Cabin on Bone Valley or the Ranger Shed. Although I don't know where the ranger shed is. Working on the pics.

lexfly

10-04-2011, 09:01 PM

Trying again. This is bone valley CS before we left Sunday

http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc459/Lexfly/DSCF0161.jpg

Here is the big brown. Remember I am a terrible picture taker.
http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc459/Lexfly/DSCF0155.jpg

Here he is in the net
http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc459/Lexfly/DSCF0153.jpg

And lastly, Doug fighting his 14" rainbow at the mouth.
http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc459/Lexfly/DSCF0163.jpg

Sorry for the poor quality, especially of the brown. Open to suggestions on how to improve the quality.

Rob Johnson

10-04-2011, 11:24 PM

If your partner made it to the Cold Springs crossing he passed the "ranger shed" right before the trail split off to the right down to Hazel. Some old timers I know call that area the Irongate. So you answered my question. Thanks. It's good to know that the fishing was good this time of year. The pics were great but surely you have more? ROB

lexfly

10-05-2011, 02:32 PM

Rob,
I have a few more, but I didn't take as many as I have in the past. I have one of a smaller brown that is really dark. not a great pic, but interesting how fish can vary so much in the same stream. My partner is the photographer. I will see what he has and post some more.

CinciVol

10-06-2011, 09:32 AM

Sounds like a great trip and thanks for the report. The blurriness of your pictures may be due to the vintage of your camera? The average $150 point and shoot camera sold today has pretty good image stabilization. Also, be sure that you are only using the "optical zoom" on your camera. If you really crank up the zoom most digital cameras will "digitally zoom" in and the pitures are always at a lower resolution than the camera is designed for.

Again great report. I do like your idea of cropping out the head and tail of that big brown trout. Now the fish can truly grow each time you tell the story and there will be no verifiable way to check!

JoelO

10-06-2011, 10:02 AM

Sounds like a great trip and thanks for the report. The blurriness of your pictures may be due to the vintage of your camera? The average $150 point and shoot camera sold today has pretty good image stabilization. Also, be sure that you are only using the "optical zoom" on your camera. If you really crank up the zoom most digital cameras will "digitally zoom" in and the pitures are always at a lower resolution than the camera is designed for.

Again great report. I do like your idea of cropping out the head and tail of that big brown trout. Now the fish can truly grow each time you tell the story and there will be no verifiable way to check!

One other thing to consider is to preset the camera to macro...it (combined with the image stabilization feature) allows for crisper close up pictures.

lexfly

10-06-2011, 06:31 PM

Thanks for the advice on taking the pictures. I am an expert at cropping out the head. That is why I am not allowed to take pictures of the kids. My wife got me a Fuji Finepix (waterproof). I don't know if that is a great camera or not, but I would say it has a lot more to do with me being afraid to let go of the fish and taking hasty pictures. I think the real problem is that I need more practice :smile:.